Sadness is all around us. Hundreds of acres of trees and homes have burned in California and the word is that it was arson and only half-way contained. Two firefighters have lost their lives and many more have been injured, fighting the wildfires to save homes and lives.
Some of our friends and loved ones have died recently and we are sad for our loss, all the while knowing that they have reached their reward for lives of service on this earth.
Many have lost their homes, jobs, fortunes to the crash of 2009 and now find themselves out on the street, facing drastic changes in their lifestyles.
We hear of those who have lost their lives in foreign countries in the Armed Services. Some question the war and wonder if we should even be there, but nothing changes the fact that our soldiers face the enemy every day.
We see violence, war, starvation, and evil all around us and our hearts grow hard.
We find ourselves watching violence being reported on the 6 o’clock News while we eat our supper, emotionally untouched by what we see. We come across a charity TV program asking for donations to feed little children who are dying in foreign countries and we flip the channel to a sitcom which is more comfortable to watch.
The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus our High Priest was touched by the feelings of our infirmities, He can sympathize with our weaknesses. (Hebrews 4:15) John 11:35 says that “Jesus wept.”
I am personally glad I can still be outraged, upset, inconsolable, and tearful because it means I am still real. I am glad I can weep with those who weep, feeling their pain and comforting them with an arm around their shoulder and a comforting word from the Psalms.
In Psalms 30:5 (NKJV) God says, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”
Weeping ends and circumstances change, but everyone remembers the friend who hugged them, consoled them, and prayed with them in their times of despair.
Lavon: You are such a wonderful writer! Deb